Municipal Softball Complex opening ceremony featured Olympic medalist throwing out first pitch
Texas Border Business
McAllen Mayor Jim Darling and the McAllen City Commission celebrated one of the most highly anticipated construction projects for the City of McAllen in an opening ceremony for the Municipal Softball Complex, one of the last remaining projects left to be completed from the 2013 Bond Election. The newly constructed softball field was built on the previous baseball complex.
The opening was celebrated on Monday, August 19, 2019 with a ceremony and ceremonial pitch by phenom pitcher Monica Abbott winner of a silver medal in the 2008 Olympic Games, plus more than a dozen gold medals from events including the Women’s World Championship, the World Cup of Softball and the Pan American Games, among others.
Featuring six softball fields, with batting practice tunnels – there were previously only four fields before the construction – the Municipal Softball Complex, the only of its kind in the region, will create new opportunities for play that have not been available in McAllen.
In addition, the City of McAllen expects an increase in visitors thanks to the tournaments and spectators the new state of the art facility will now be able to host. This facility created the opportunity for year-round softball play.
New features include: a newly constructed concession stand, restrooms, umpire room and mechanical, janitorial and storage rooms. Improvements to the park and play field included electronical work for security cameras and water and sewage infrastructure; grading and drainage improvements; landscaping and irrigation; decorative fencing; security gates and other elements. A backstop netting was added to the fields, as well as a maintenance storage building pad with driveway and dumpster pad; new shade structures, scoreboards and an irrigation pump.
